Category Archives: Abortion

South Dakota Right to Life (SDRTL) is more than grateful for the recent news reported by the South Dakota Department of Health that the number of elective abortion procedures performed in South Dakota went down from 497 in 2017 to 382 in 2018. This 23% reduction from the previous year is significant but not unexpected as SDRTL, in part through the efforts of its 42 Chapters, has been diligently working statewide to enhance our culture of life through education and pro-life Legislation.

Our efforts for championing life here in SD are encouraged by our partnering with other South Dakota pro-life advocacy groups such as the Family Heritage Alliance, Concerned Women for America, Respect Life, Sidewalk Advocates for Life, 40 Days for Life, Life Runners, SD Pregnancy Help Centers and the Catholic Conference among others. We are stronger and better together!

The South Dakota State Legislature passed six pro-life bills this year and our pro-life Governor signed them all into law. We are winning the science and we are winning the hearts and minds of reasonable, fair-minded South Dakotans of all ages.

With an attitude of compassion and truth, we are intensely committed to saving unborn babies. With that same fervor, we are concerned for and reach out to the mothers who are facing a difficult time in their lives and need our support. We ache for the fathers who have no legal recourse to protect their child and who also suffer loss in the death of that child. We love the elderly and those with disabilities whose lives are threatened by assisted suicide and other forms of euthanasia. And yes, we are concerned for those who do harm to all these precious human beings. We encourage them to join us in protecting life.

This report of the reduction of elective abortions is welcomed news as it is by far our lowest rate since statistics began to be kept in 1973. This being said, we will not rest until the God-ordained right to life is protected for every human being in our great state of South Dakota.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This afternoon the Department of Health and Human Services announced that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will discontinue research involving the “use of human fetal tissue from elective abortion.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

“This is yet another step by the Trump administration in the march to
restore the sanctity of all human life in America. This decision is one
based upon the desire of this administration to use taxpayer dollars in
the pursuit of science that is both ethical and effective.

“The fact is aborted fetal tissue hasn’t been used to create the cure
of a single disease. However, tax dollars have been contributing to an
industry that fosters the trafficking of body parts from aborted babies.
There is absolutely no reason to use these grisly remains when ethical
and effective alternatives exist including human umbilical cord blood
stem cells and adult peripheral blood stem cells.

“We applaud HHS Secretary Alex Azar for adopting pro-life,
pro-science policies for the born and unborn – all of which is
consistent with President Trump’s stellar pro-life record,” concluded
Perkins.

During the 2019 Legislative Session the SD House of Representatives adopted House Resolution 1003, which denounced the recent passage of New York’s abortion law and requested that Governor Noem declare a day of prayer and fasting to atone for the unspeakable crime of abortion. The Governor agreed, and has declared May 4th as a statewide day of prayer and fasting for all.

Executive Proclamation

State of South Dakota Office of the Governor

Whereas, On the forty-sixth anniversary to the day of the Roe v. Wade decision, the Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, the fifty-sixth Governor of the state of New York, signed into law an act that permits nearly limitless abortion of a child in utero, even in the last moments before that child’s eyes see the light beyond the womb; and,

Whereas, Other states in our Union may seek to follow this path. All life is sacred and that every person has dignity and worth. We are speaking of fully-formed babies. We are speaking of human beings with fully-formed hearts and lungs, eyes and mouths, hands and feet, utterly indistinguishable from our own children and grandchildren; and,

Whereas, Life is sacred from the moment of conception. We know, by the eternal law and the evidence of history, that the destruction of innocent life cries out to heaven for justice. With all humility and in fitting fear for perdition, it is thus proper to bow before the unseen Author of all life and beg mercy in atonement for our sins and the sins of our countrymen, that the cause of our sadness might be lifted from this land and harmony among all restored; and,

Now, Therefore, I, Kristi Noem, Governor of the state of South Dakota do hereby proclaim May 4, 2019, as

A DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING FOR ALL

In South Dakota and I respectfully request people of all creeds or none at all to observe this day with solemn mourning and pleas to heaven as best their consciences do direct.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the state of South Dakota, in Pierre, the Capitol City, this First Day of April in the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Nineteen.

On February 27, the SD House of Representatives passed a resolution presented by Representative Hansen “Denouncing the recent passage of New York’s abortion law and requesting that the Governor declare a day of prayer and fasting to atone for the unspeakable crime of abortion.”

The state of New York just voted to expand abortion access right up to the birth of the baby! To celebrate this unbelievable

depravity they lit the One World Trade Center in pink! Women used to celebrate motherhood and find joy in their children. Today, in places like New York City, they are taking joy in destroying their children. The state of New York has crossed a line of inhumanity that should drive us to our knees. Forty-six years of the state-sanctioned killing of our most helpless and defenseless children should cause us to weep, to mourn, and to take action. What is to be thought of a society that kills her own children? What will the future be of such a heartless society that celebrates such barbaric inhumanity?

“If the foundations be destroyed what shall the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) We are calling for a national Day of Mourning and repentance. We are in desperate need for God to move upon the hearts of young and old in our nation. If our hearts do not break over the killing of these little image bearers of God in the womb, then how can we expect those growing up in this lost, confused and decadent culture to take our message seriously? Join us February 23rd for a “Day of Mourning.”

President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is trying to defend life! HHS issued a proposed change to the existing regulations governing the Title X family planning program. Right now programs can receive Title X money even if they perform or refer for abortions in the same location as their Title X activities. This means Planned Parenthood clinics, many of which perform abortions, are being subsidized by taxpayer dollars! This proposed rule will make sure that taxpayer dollars stay out of the abortion industry and will protect the Title X program from subsidizing abortion.

President Trump’s HHS needs you to provide public comment supportive of this regulatory fix, since liberal groups are criticizing the rule because they want the government to continue to subsidize abortion across the nation!

When Congress created the Title X family planning program nearly 50 years ago, it was never intended to subsidize the abortion industry. The federal Title X law even states that money cannot go to programs that use abortion as a method of family planning. President Reagan put regulations into place that upheld these statutes, by ensuring all Title X funds had to be physically and financially separate from all abortion activities, including referrals. Despite the protests from the abortion lobby, Reagan’s regulations were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1991. Unfortunately, when President Clinton was elected, he changed the Title X regulations once again, allowing Title X recipients to perform abortions at the same location, and even requiring that all Title X recipients provide abortion referrals. As a result, Title X has been pouring millions of dollars into the abortion industry for decades. Planned Parenthood alone receives $60 million annually from the Title X program.

President Trump and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are working to put a stop to taxpayers being forced is indirectly subsidize abortion. The proposed rule put forward by HHS would once again require Title X recipients, if they also perform abortions, to do so in a separate physical location, and would remove the mandate for abortion referrals. This would allow pro-life organizations that do not refer for abortion to apply for Title X funds.

The proposed rule would also require Title X clinics to abide by state reporting laws for rape and abuse in order to put a stop to the exploiting of young women and girls, many of whom are brought to Title X clinics for contraception and abortion by their abusers. The proposed rule would ensure that these girls will be protected and their abusers brought to justice.

We need your help! To ensure that this proposed rule receives public support, please submit this comment to thank HHS for their efforts and encourage them to continue their defense of the inalienable right to life.
To submit comments to HHS, please go to this link.

South Dakota Right to Life has release their 2017/2018 Legislative scorecard!

“Our legislative scorecard is out for the 2017-18 sessions just in time for the primaries. Feel free to print, copy, cut, paste, quote, and use the resource however you see fit. Make sure voters in your district know how your legislators are voting, and thank your legislator for standing up for LIFE! Don’t have a pro-life legislator? You can donate to South Dakota Right to Life PAC, 342 N. Sunset Dr., Mina, SD 57451. Specify which district race you want your funds used in. Questions about the scorecard? Email spencercody@hotmail.com”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act,” (H.R. 7) sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.). This bill would permanently prohibit taxpayer dollars from being used to pay for abortions in Obamacare health plans starting the next plan year. This bill also protects Americans of conscience by requiring the full disclosure of abortion coverage in Obamacare plans so people can make informed decisions about their healthcare plans right now.

Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins responded with the following comments:

“The 115th Congress has started on strong footing by passing this vital legislation ensuring that no American taxpayer dollars are used to pay for elective abortions. Following an election in which voters chose a pro-life president and a pro-life Congress, our nation is moving toward a new era where all human beings, born and unborn, are protected under the law. Abortion is not healthcare, and should not be funded since we know government funding of abortion increases it. Passage of this bill is a victory not just for taxpayers but women, and their unborn children.

“Today’s vote reflects the reality that Americans are becoming more pro-life as science has increased our understanding of the humanity of unborn children. This bill restores the status quo against government funding or subsidizing abortion, a position supported by 61 percent of Americans.

“For over 40 years, the Hyde Amendment and other pro-life provisions have been renewed annually to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortions or healthcare plans which include abortion coverage. For over 40 years, Republicans and Democrats have come together to ensure that despite our differences, we should at least be able to agree that the government should not subsidize abortion. Obamacare violates this longstanding consensus.

“The Senate must take up this bill to ensure that government no longer spends people’s hard earned money on insurance with elective abortion. We must pray and work to end abortion in America until every child is welcomed into the world and protected under our laws. Ending taxpayer funding of abortion is a good first step on this journey,” concluded Perkins.